The Netherlands sends The Resistance Banker to Oscars

06/09/2018

The Resistance Banker, directed by Joram Lürsen, has been chosen as the official entry from The Netherlands for the 2019 Academy Award in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

The World War II film, set in occupied Netherlands, is based on the extraordinary, true story of banker Walraven van Hall who financed the Dutch Resistance by defrauding the Central Bank under German control out of tens of millions of guilders - right under the noses of the Nazis.

The Resistance Banker is written by Marieke van der Pol and Thomas van der Ree/Winchester McFly and produced by Sytze van der Laan, Sabine Brian and Alain de Levita for NL Film and TV (NL) in co-production with EO - Evangelical Broadcasting (NL) and Zilvermeer Productions (BE).

Award-winning director Joram Lürsen has received numerous international prizes for his previous films, that include In Orange and The Magicians.

Earlier this week The Resistance Banker received a record-breaking 12 Golden Calf nominations, the national film awards of the Netherlands Film Festival, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay. As one of the three top-performing Dutch titles at the local box-office in 2018, the film is also nominated for the Golden Calf Audience Award.

International rights to The Resistance Banker were snapped up by Netflix and the film will hit the small screen worldwide on 11 September (with the exception of China, and in Belgium and The Netherlands where the film will be available on later dates).

The nominations in all categories for the Academy Awards will be announced on January 22, 2018. The 91st Oscars Ceremony will take place February 24.